Day 14: An Unknown Side
Day 14: An Unknown Side is the 14th chapter in the Midori Days manga and the 4th chapter of the second volume. Summary Seiji is forcefully taken to a hot spring by his sister, and the three end up in the bath together. Seiji wants nothing to do with the situation, however Rin tells Midori of Seiji as a child, and how he was always bullied. Plot It is nighttime, and Seiji is mentally monologuing about how he's come to accept Midori in his life after almost being with her a whole month. That said, he's never ready for one aspect: bath time. Midori, wrapped in a tiny bath towel, asks Seiji to spray her down. Seiji, embarrassed and trying not to look, blasts Midori with the shower head, and she cries about how incredibly cold the water was. Seiji apologizes, and notes that he gets very flustered during their bath hour. Seiji sits outside of the bathtub and prepares to clean himself with a bar of soap. He tells Midori to stay in the bathtub and he'll clean up outside of it. Midori, however, decides to hep Seiji wash his back. He protests, but she refuses to listen and keeps cleaning. Seiji begins to relax and notes that this is nice, but Midori forgets how far Seiji's arm can stretch, and accidentally pulls a muscle in his arm. He shouts in pain for her to back off, which causes her to accidentally drop her sponge as she apologizes, and cannot reach it. After a brief moment, she notes that her towel is covered in suds, and she can be Seiji's sponge. Seiji loudly protests against this, and this is the point Rin walks in. Rin mocks how cute they look, and Seiji immediately demands Rin to leave. On the next page, Rin is driving, having apparently forced Seiji and Midori along for a short trip. Seiji demands to know where they're going, and Rin states she is taking them to a hot spring that specializes in "strange ailments". They arrive shortly, and are led into the inn, where the innkeeper tells them about a tale regarding a Goblin who tales say took a bath in the hot spring, and that this is related to how it can cure anything. She laments, however, that truly sick people no longer visit this hot spring, and rather go straight to the hospital. Seiji and Midori prepare to head into the open air bath. They cover themselves in their towels and Seiji watches as Midori puts her hair up. She catches him looking, blushes, and smiles while telling him he doesn't have to stare. Seiji's face blushes over, and he tells her he wasn't staring. Seiji wants to get in and get out, however Midori is really excited. They step out to the bath and... it is thick and appears to be like sludge. Both are immediately put off, linking it to more of a swamp than a bath. Rin walks out holding her towel over her shoulder, and tells them to get in. Seiji, at the sight of his naked sister, immediately backs off and demands for her to leave. Midori on the other hand compliments Rin's figure, noting she looks very good and calling her "sis". Rin is thankful for the compliment, but Seiji interrupts the two demanding to know what Rin is doing out here with her brother. She then admits it was mixed bathing. Seiji is stunned for words, likely realizing she didn't tell him that on purpose just to embarrass him. Rin, Midori, and Seiji get in the bath. Seiji looks away, angry and embarrassed, and Rin teases Seiji, noting he's too old to take baths with his sister anymore given he just hit puberty. All Seiji can do is angrily note she has no shame. Midori asks if they really did take baths together, and Rin notes that they did all the time. A small panel shows Rin and Seiji, likely no older than seven years, taking a bath with Rin holding Seiji upside down in the bathwater. She says she would do so because he's cheat his way out of counting to one hundred, and laughs that to this day he is still afraid of water and can't swim. Seiji, who clearly doesn't think it is a joke, angrily shouts at her sarcastically about how "fun" that was. Midori sees an opportunity and asks about how Seiji was as a child. Seiji asks why she would even ask Rin that, however Rin begins by stating Seiji was picked on a lot. As a child, Seiji would constantly be picked on all the time. Rin was as ferocious and strong as she is now, and would always beat up the bullies that would single Seiji out. He would cry over being bullied, and Rin would come to the rescue. Seiji was a loner, who enjoyed playing with his own toys by himself, and would smile as people would take advantage of him as he didn't know how to deal with people. She notes that "He never fought back, he would just smile through every conflict". A small panel shows Seiji playing with his toys, only for the bullies to show up, take his toys, and ruin them, while he stood there and smiled off on the side. Rin continues on, saying that she told him he couldn't keep hiding behind a smile and running away from conflict. Eventually Seiji had to stand up for himself. The scene shoots back to present day for a moment, as Midori looks at the Seiji she knows now after hearing everything she's been told. Seiji is looking to the side, not partaking in the conversation or making eye contact. Midori turns back to Rin, who makes a fercious smile and tells Midori that she took it upon herself to take her fighting skills and "beat"'' ''them into Seiji's soul. She forced Seiji to train physically, hypnotized him into believing he was the "mad dog", and even forced him to run while tied to tires. She did everything to train Seiji every single day until he was ready to drop. A week later, Seiji caught up to his bullies in a field and challenged them to a fight with his "Demon Right Hand". Midori asks if Seiji actually succeeded in his fight, however Rin laughs that all Seiji had was one week of training and was up against four guys. The odds were against him to start, and it was inevitable that he would lose. Despite this, Seiji refused to stay down. He fought, tears in his eyes, until the bullies gave up and realized Seiji would not back down. Seiji took the most punches and clearly lost, but never surrendered. As the flashback ends, Rin states Seiji hasn't been picked on since. He continued training on his own until he ''was ''a powerful fighter. She mocks how Seiji is still absolutely nothing compared to her, but admires that he refuses to pick on anyone that is 'weak'. She admits as his sister, it is one aspect in him that she prizes. Seiji blows off the whole tale with a disregarding "hmph", and asks Midori who gave her permission to ask about his past. Rin smiles and asks if she dashed Midori's image of Seiji. Midori proudly exclaims the exact opposite, that it made her love him even more. On the next pages, Seiji and Midori are in the bathtub at home again, with Rin long gone. Seiji notes that the bath house was a total bust and failed to fix their problem, noting they are the "exact same as before". Midori disagrees with this, and believes she isn't the same, having learned great things about Seiji and feel more connected than before. Seiji gets out of the tub embarrassed and tells her they're getting out, but accidentally drops his towel. Midori screeches in horror, having caught sight of Seiji's most private area, and says that's a part of Seiji she really didn't ''want ''to know about. Seiji loudly yells at her to shut up. Notes *Seiji states it has been a month since Midori and Seiji were fused together, showing that the previous 13 days have occurred within a month overall. *While it is possibly a coincidence, the emblem on the front of Rin's car is incredibly close to those used by Honda Motor co., which would make sense since it is a Japanese company. *The Inn is called "Seppaku Inn", which may have various English definitions such as "end of the year", "urgency", and "pure", among others. It is also very closely spelt in Romaji to Seppuku, which is the Japanese word regarding ritual suicide for a samurai. The word "Seppaku" is often confused for the same meaning as "Seppuku". *The bath at the hot spring makes the sound of "Bloop" when introduced. *Several kids are shown destroying a sand castle Seiji built during the flashback. One of the kids is stomping on it yelling "GODZILLA ". *This chapter would imply Seiji's moniker of "Mad Dog Sawamura" and his "Demon Right Hand" were Rin's idea. *This chapter is one of the very few times Rin can be seen without her glasses, something that does not occur again and never occurs in the anime. Category:Days Category:Volume 2 Category:Manga Chapters